which says “[…] Michael Ledeen, one of the most influential JINSAns in Washington […]”

August 6, 2002- “One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today. If we wage the war effectively, we will bring down the terror regimes in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and either bring down the Saudi monarchy or force it to abandon its global assembly line to indoctrinate young terrorists.” Michael Ledeen

LEDEEN: “Well, if you read it in context, Alan, you'll see that the cauldron I was talking about was political and not military. What I was arguing for and what I have argued for all along is that we started in the wrong place, it should have been Iran and not Iraq and the methods used should have been political and not military and that the primary method for dealing with Iran, and I've been saying that all along, too, should be support domestic democratic revolution.” http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/ledeen_on_iranian_time_bomb.html

Lots more about Ledeen’s “influence”:

A] “The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed” http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/07/yellowcake200607

B] Two book reviews of his 1981 book “Debacle, The American Failure in Iran”

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5DD1738F935A15757C0A967948260&sec=&pagewanted=all

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F70E1EFB3D5C0C738DDDA80894DA484D81

C] “McFarlane Took Cake and Bible to Teheran, Ex-CIA Man Says” NYT Jan. 11, 1987

D] “New Hope for Clues In Italian Scandals”, E. J. DIONNE (NYT), March 25, 1985

E] Book review of Ledeen’s 1985 book, “Grave New World”

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807EFDF153BF93AA25756C0A963948260&sec=&pagewanted=all

F] “The White House Crisis: How the Drama Unfolded; Anatomy of a Furor: Charting the Evolution of the Iran Affair”, NYT Dec. 23, 1986

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F50716F734580C708EDDAB0994DE484D81

G] “From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq”, by Craig Unger, March 2007

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/ [...]

A partner in OUTRAGE at OLC!

Her understanding of "OLC's core job description": "to DARE to say "NO" to the President" is spot on.

about OLC appointments.

LOL-I was thinking of writing something like: dare I hope?, but decided to squelch my cynicism for a change...

Johnsen does indeed sound very much like GG. :-)

In an admittedly sort of hodge-podge Timeline undertaking which I simply call “WAR”, this is what I have for Bolton, John:

1998 “the neocons persisted with their policy goals, and in early 1998 they twice lobbied President Clinton to bring down Saddam. The second attempt came in the form of "An Open Letter to the President" by leading neoconservatives, many of whom later played key roles in the Bush administration, where they became known as the Vulcans. Among those who signed were Michael Ledeen, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and David Wurmser.”(B)

May 6, 2002-US Department of State informs UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that the US “does not intend to become a party to” the “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted on July 17, 1998.” The letter is signed by John Bolton. (PP) [See also September 7, 2002]

September 7, 2002-NYT: “The Bush administration is shifting its emphasis in seeking exemptions for Americans from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, telling European allies that a central reason is to protect the country's top leaders from being indicted, arrested or hauled before the court on war crimes charges, administration officials say.”(QQ)

May 2, 2003-Iran sends to Washington “the grand bargain” for negotiating differences, just before a meeting in Geneva between Iran's U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif, and neocon Zalmay Khalilzad, then a senior director at the National Security Council. “According to a report by Gareth Porter in The American Prospect, Iran offered to take ‘decisive action against any terrorists (above all, al-Qaeda) in Iranian territory." In exchange, Iran wanted the U.S. to pursue "anti-Iranian terrorists’—i.e., the MEK. Specifically, Iran offered to share the names of senior al-Qaeda operatives in its custody in return for the names of MEK cadres captured by the U.S. in Iraq.”… the Bush administration simply declined to respond. "We're not interested in any grand bargain," -Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton (U)

**************

(B) The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/07/yellowcake200607

(PP) State Department letter from John Bolton to inform UN that US “will not be party to” the Rome Statute [ICC] http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/9968.htm

(QQ) “On World Court, US Focus Shifts to Shielding Officials”

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E5DD103EF934A3575AC0A9649C8B63

(U) From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq, by Craig Unger, March 2007

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/ [...]

How does one use block quotes?

Now I shall commence experimentation...

Kitt said:

"Exactly like that, except you use these< > instead of these[ ].

And then always use preview before clicking publish."

And then Arne said:

“[…] if you want them to persist through or beyond a blockquote, you should terminate them and then reinstate them past the blockquote.”

By Jove, I think I've got it!" :-)

...hopefully your conversation with Philadelphia Steve won't be too late, as I think it should be entertaining and I don't want to miss it.

published in Law & Contemp. Probs. 7 (Winter/Spring 2000)

http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?63+Law+&+Contemp.+Probs.+7+(WinterSpring+2000)